Pirates
by mommanerd
Summary: Takes place during Episode 4.05. Hook and Henry are spending the day sailing...


"Put it on." Hook tossed the orange cloth contraption over to the boy.

Henry caught it and looked it over skeptically. "Look, you're Captain Hook. You know what you're doing."

"Aye," he said. "And that's why you're going to put it on. Even if the sea doesn't kill us today, your mother will if she finds out you didn't wear the bloody thing." He moved behind the wheel and checked that everything was ready. "Strike that. You'll be fine. _I'm_ the one she'll go after, and I like to keep my hide intact whenever possible."

Henry pulled the live vest over his head and tightened the straps. "Why don't you wear one?"

Hook laughed at that. "Over my shirt, vest and coat? If I fell in I'd have a hell of a time trying to swim under all that, now wouldn't I?"

"Speaking of that," Henry said, "Have you ever fallen in?"

"Three hundred years of pirating – what do you think?"

Henry grinned. "I think you probably ruined more than one leather jacket."

"You're a discerning lad."

They finished with their preparations and set off. Emma's son was a fast learner and after the first three trips out on the small sailing vessel, he hadn't needed much reminding about what needed to be done. Perhaps he was using the excuse of teaching the boy to make inroads with the mother, as the thief had suggested, but these excursions also allowed him to indulge in his other passion.

"Did you ever get seasick?" Henry was asking him.

"Never."

"How old were you when…"

"Younger than you."

Henry nudged him with his elbow. "C'mon. Tell me some details. I only know about pirates from movies."

Killian perked up at that. "Movies? Do tell. Are they on the Netfix?"

"Sure!" Henry made an adjustment to the sail without being told. Smart lad. "There's the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and those are a lot of fun, where the pirates outsmart the bad guys and have lots of cool sword fights. Johnny Depp wears eyeliner, like you do, but you have better teeth."

"Indeed?"

"And then there's The Princess Bride, with the Dread Pirate Roberts, who is really the farm boy. But everyone is afraid of him anyway, because of the legend."

Hook was quite enjoying this conversation. "And what of me, and my legend? Fearsome captain who lets nothing get in the way of his mission?"

Henry shrugged. "Not so much. More like the crazy guy who gets freaked out when he hears a clock ticking."

"What…?"

"But I'm sure that's because Pan twisted the story all up to make you look bad."

Pan was the devil incarnate. "I'm not afraid of a ticking clock." He said the last deliberately, lingering over the K.

"Of course not," Henry jumped in. "It's just because the crocodile that ate your hand swallowed it and so you knew he was close."

Crocodile? "The Dark One is in this tale as well?"

Henry shook his head. "No, it's a real crocodile."

"I don't relish the thought of seeing this movie." Hook felt his good mood begin to evaporate.

"I don't blame you," Henry said. "Now that I've been to Neverland and met everyone, I know they got it all wrong. And besides, you don't look anything like the guy in the cartoon."

"Cartoon?"

"That's another story. Have Mom show you, sometime."

Hook wasn't sure if he'd follow up on that suggestion. For today he would focus on enjoying the sail around the Storybrooke bay. He turned his attention back to the boat and their position, making adjustments for the wind and the tide. Why was it that traveling the unpredictable sea was so much easier than dealing with the impediments he met on the land?

Henry was talking again. "Some night we should show you the original Star Wars trilogy. There's a pirate in there, too, and I think my mom always had a crush on him. We used to watch them in New York, and she'd make me be quiet whenever he was on the screen."

"It takes place on a ship?" Hook asked.

Henry nodded. "A star ship that flies though space. They battle the evil empire. There's Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia, and…"

"What? Say again? Princess Leia?"

"Yes."

"And Luke is the handsome pirate?"

"No," Henry laughed. "He's her brother." The lad stopped talking and looked horrified. "That's a major spoiler. Don't tell Mom I told you. Just act surprised when it gets to that part."

"Understood."

"The pirate, actually he's a smuggler, is Han Solo. Leia falls in love with him, but she's kinda bossy and he likes to argue with her, so it takes them a while to get together."

Hook discovered that his foul mood had evaporated completely. So, she had chosen to call herself Princess Leia back in the Enchanted Forest, hadn't she? He could definitely use that bit to make things a bit interesting.

The sun was falling low on the horizon, signaling that it was time to turn back to the town. They returned without incident, and he collected the life vest from Henry. Regina was waiting for them, and Hook was glad he'd insisted on the boy wearing the protective gear. He might have been exaggerating about Emma's reaction, but he had no doubt that Regina would fillet him, given the proper motivation.

He moored the boat and stepped onto the dock. Emma would still be at the station, and he was looking forward to suggesting a movie night with her. This would no doubt come as a surprise to his princess, since he tended to be restless when expected to sit and watch one of those things for two hours. The fact was that they had more excitement in their real lives than what was usually portrayed on screen. But if she had a weakness for pirates, he could make an exception.

Besides, he'd found he had a fondness for popcorn. The snuggles on the couch weren't bad, either.


End file.
